Blood in Flame and Water

Waking Dreams

Mitski bit their nails, chewing on the keratin till the dried out skin of their nail bed became too sensitive to continue. They hid under the seat bed, hidden from the children employed by the demon likely behind this sleeping coma Rengoku, and his students were in. From where Mitski was, hidden under the seat and using the access fabric of Rengoku's haori as a curtain, they could watch as four children tied a piece of rope around their respective slayer's wrist. With the woven twine now tying the two together, the children found a seat and fell asleep as well.

Giving the children plenty of time to fall into unconsciousness, Mitski slowly peaked out from underneath the seat and looked around. Getting to their feet, Mitski looked to Rengoku and carefully reached out. Grabbing the man's sleeve, the child clutched it tightly and gave it a few tugs. Receiving no answer from the elder man, Mitski sniffed and tried again. There wasn't even a single twitch.

Huffing, Mitski quickly blinked away their tears and looked around instead of just focusing on waking Rengoku. The man had smiled at them and willingly went to sleep allowing what was to happen to happen. The man had a death wish and Mitski wasn't gonna get in the way of it. So instead, they turned to the big wooden box that the Tanjiro boy had put on the seat. Once or twice a slight rustle had come from inside apparently only Mitski took notice to. The children either hadn't heard the sounds or didn't pay any mind to it, thinking it was the train moving whatever was inside. But even now with the train moving without issue and with little turbulence the contents within the box shuffled and thunked against the sides.

Humming to themselves, Mitski slowly moved closer to the box and thumbed the latch on the door. Without realizing what they did, the latch popped open and the door swung outwards. With a thump, a… small child fell from within the box to the ground. Mitski blinked and the small girl blinked back. Dull sakura pink eyes gazed up at Mitski with interest for a moment from the floor before the girl rolled up to her feet. Now standing, the girl and Mitski stood nearly around the same height.

Shuffling under the girl's constant unblinking gaze, Mitski thumbed at their cuticles before opening their mouth, "What's your name? "

The girl tilted her head with a small hum. Mitski swallowed and asked again, "Um…What's your name? "

Smiling with her eyes, Mitski just now noticed the bamboo muzzle keeping the girl's mouth occupied. Cringing at the muzzle, Mitski muttered a small 'sorry' before looking down at their feet.

Giving a small 'harrumph', the girl raised her stubby hand and gave Mitski a few firm  pats on the head.

Stuttering under the sudden affection, Mitski ducked away from the girl's hand and sighed, "I don't know if you can understand me, but if what I heard was right, you're that boy's sister, right? "

Mitski pointed to Tanjiro and the girl's eyes followed his hand. Seeing Tanjiro, the girl raised her arms up cheerfully like a child and waddled over to the older boy. Mitski quickly followed after her. The little girl, which Mitski couldn't remember for the life of them, walked up to Tanjiro and grabbed his checkered haori. Giving it a few tugs, the girl whined behind her muzzle and tried again.

Mitski stepped closer and tapped her shoulder, getting her attention, "It didn't work when I tried with him, " they pointed behind themselves towards Rengoku.

Jumping impatiently in response, the odd muzzled girl goes back to tugging on Tanjiro's haori fervently. All the while muffled complaints and whines came from behind her muzzle. With enough tugging, the Kamado boy falls from his place leaning against the backrest of the seat and over the rest of it not taken up by the girl's box.